Elite
by TheTwilitDragon
Summary: Alice has lived in a small, isolated town all thirteen years of her life. She never had a desire to become a trainer, but when problems arise, and and opportunity presents itself, she takes it and finds that she is much more interested in the world than she thought.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I was floating. Flying through the dark, without a clue as to where I was headed. There was a light up ahead, and I reached for it. Suddenly I was enveloped in it. I couldn't see anything, but my blindingly white surroundings were slowly fading into a familiar landscape, my town. I was standing on the same street I had walked down hundreds of times, but something was off. The buildings in front of me were hazy as if the air around them was hot. I looked behind me, expecting to see my house, but I saw only the dirt road fading away into whiteness. I floated through the town, looking for the inhabitants, but there was no one. The streets that once bustled with activity, were empty. I called out, hoping someone would hear, but no answer came. The scene began to fade back into white. I cried out again, louder this time, but in vain. I was being pulled somewhere, I didn't know where, but I didn't want to go. I screamed and tried to grab on to something, anything. My vision went black, and my scream echoed in my ears.

I woke sweating in my bed, practically drowning in my silver hair. I sat up, pushing my hair away from my face, and looked left out my window. My bedroom was on the second floor of the house I shared with myself, so I had a pretty good view of the streets below. The town looked normal; the people were outside going about their usual business, and the children were playing in the dirt with their Pokemon.

I got out of bed and looked around. My bed was tucked in the far corner of my carpeted room. Sitting next to it was a nightstand that held an alarm clock and a water bottle. Across the room, close to the door, was my desk, on which sat a reading light, a picture of my parents, and the PC that I'd left open last night. Above that was a colorful poster advertising the Pokemon league. Getting up, I opened my closet and picked out the clothes I would wear that day, before heading to the bathroom to shower.

I opened the door and shivered as my foot made contact with the cold wood floor. I looked back into my room just to make sure I hadn't forgotten or dropped anything. I completely ignored the first door on my right and headed into the second one, closer to the stairs. The first room had belonged to my parents, but after they left, I shut the door and went in only to clean.

After I had showered and dressed, I came back to my room, chucked my night clothes into the laundry basket, and began to fix the sheets on my bed. Once that was finished, I headed back to the bathroom to attempt to brush the mess that was my hair. Once brushed, I dried it and then re-brushed it before properly looking at myself in the mirror.

I was of pretty average height for a thirteen-year-old girl. I had a slim face that was roughly heart-shaped, with a sharp jawline and high cheekbones. My eyes were large and icy blue with flecks of white, and I had thin, white eyebrows. My lips were thin, and I had a sharp nose that stuck out a bit more than I liked. My hair was a shiny silver color which was very rare, it fell to the middle of my back, and I was currently busy braiding the hair that refused to stay tucked behind my ear.

When I finished in the bathroom, I picked up my laundry and started the journey to the laundry room. I plodded down my stairs, ignoring the front door to my left, and turned into the largest room in the house. The hallway loomed ahead of me, and I knew that the laundry room lay within, mocking me as I stumbled awkwardly towards it with my basket. I struggled as I passed the kitchen and was so focused on not tripping that I forgot to look up and as I entered the hallway, I almost smacked into the library door I left open last night. Sighing, I pushed past it and headed into the laundry room. After starting the machine, I came back to the hallway and properly closed the door.

The library was filled with books both written and collected by my parents before they disappeared, and spanned a number of topics. My favorite were the books on Pokemon. The library was where I spent most of my free time.

After closing the door I retreated to the kitchen to get some breakfast. I grabbed an apple and a piece of bread from the fridge before leaving the house. I was eager to start my day.

I worked odd jobs around my town, working for anyone who needed my help. It was a good way for me to earn some money and, depending on the job, a way for me to stay in shape.

Outside, the sun was bright, and people waved to me as they saw me walk out. I usually found a job by walking through town and if someone needed me they came up and talked to me. So I started up the road towards the busier part of town.

The town was roughly circular with the market square in the middle and the houses extending outward from it like waves. But, to be honest, there were only two streets, with four houses on each. My house was located on the second street. The professor of the town lived a short walk away from the main village.

Trees dotted the sides of the dirt road and clustered between buildings. It was late spring, so the trees were in full bloom. I admired them as I walked along.

I slowed as I passed a neighbor's house. The owner of the house, Mrs. Green, was outside working in her yard, she raised a hand in greeting as I approached.

"Good morning Alice." She called. "You out looking for work again today?"

"Morning Mrs. Green. Yes, I am out looking for work, got anything for me today?" I replied.

"I'm afraid not, but I hear Ms. Wells in the next block over has been having trouble with something, I forget what. Why don't you check up on her?"

"I'll do that. Thanks" I said as I began walking again. Mrs. Green nodded and smiled and continued her work.

Mrs. Green was a tall woman in her early forties. She had shoulder length brown hair and bright blue eyes. Ms. Wells, however, was entirely different. I stood on her front porch having just knocked, and when she opened the door, I beheld a woman maybe two inches shorter than me. Ms. Wells was definitely of under averaged height for someone in their thirties. She was quite slim, and she had curious brown eyes. Her dirty blonde hair that usually fell to her shoulder blades, was pulled back in a ponytail.

"Oh, hello Alice. I was just cleaning up in here, but would you like to come in and have some tea?" She asked in a quiet voice that completely matched her stature.

I thought about it for a second, "That would be nice, thank you." I answered politely.

Ms. Wells admitted me into her dimly lit house. There was a table to my right, and to the left, a study area. The rest of the house was blocked from view by a wall.

She led me to a seat, and once I was settled, she disappeared into the kitchen through a swinging door. She reappeared a minute later carrying a tray laden with cups of sugar, milk, and tea. She set the tray down in the middle of the table, took the seat opposite me, and served us both.

"I heard from Mrs. Green that you were having trouble with something again," I said, taking a sip of my tea.

She looked away shyly and took a sip of her own tea before answering. "Well, maybe I was having some trouble moving a few things, but I'm sure I'll get it eventually."

I rolled my eyes at her. "You know I'm always looking for work, why didn't you come to me?" I asked.

"Yes, yes of course I know I can come to you, but I didn't want to bother you with something so trivial."

Sighing, I replied, "It doesn't matter if it seems small to you, if you come to me I'll always do the best I can. Why don't you show me what you need to move after we finish our tea." Ms. Wells grudgingly agreed, and we finished our tea in silence.

Afterward, she showed me around the house and laid out my work for me. As it turns out, Ms. Wells was exaggerating when she had said "a few things", the entire back room was full of boxes that needed to be taken out. It was explained to me that Ms. Wells had been talking to Mrs. Williams who needed all these boxes delivered to her house, and Ms. Wells had agreed to help. I looked down at the first box and shook my head. Ms. Wells was a kind soul, but sometimes she took on more than she could handle.

Mrs. Williams had recently become a widow, her husband had died no more than a month ago. She had cleared out all the things she no longer needed and had ordered new stuff to fill the empty places, that's what all these boxes were. I had my work cut out for me, and certainly didn't help that her house was on the opposite side of the town.

I had done many jobs for the Williams family before and had been over here almost every week since Mr. Williams had passed, but it still struck me how empty the house looked. The door opened into a rectangular room split into a living room and a kitchen, with one hallway in the middle of the right wall. The first room was empty of most furnishings except the kitchen essentials, a couch, and a table with one chair.

I was sitting on the floor next to the box I had been carrying after I had burst into the house without knocking. I had been about to drop the box and had been desperate to put it down. As a rule, I always took the heaviest thing first when the job was transporting something.

A very startled looking Mrs. Williams appeared from the hallway. She looked much the same as I remembered. Mrs. Williams was a stereotypical grandma, short, round, with curly gray hair, spectacles, and wore clothes with flower patterns. She was still young enough to walk without a cane, but she was slow.

"Whatever are you doing on the floor, you poor girl." She said, clearly worried.

"I'm just resting," I replied, getting up. "I went to Ms. Wells this morning and I'm helping her deliver your boxes."

"You're such a sweet girl for helping out like that. I'll be here, if you ever need anything, just ask." I nodded and headed out the door to retrieve the next box.

Transporting boxes took longer than I thought it would, and it was late afternoon by the time I finished. I had nothing else to do today, so I wandered around the town, window shopping in the marketplace, and chatting with the townsfolk. I started home as the sun began to sink.

I stood in front of my house, ready to head inside when I heard a voice calling my name. I turned around a saw a man half jogging towards me. It took a moment but I finally recognized professor Oak.

The professor had slightly graying hair, thick eyebrows, and wore his ever-present white lab coat. When he reached me he had to stop and pant for a second before he could speak.

"Alice, I'm glad I caught up with you," He began. His voice was deeper than I remembered. "I know its late so I'll get right to the point. I've been hearing about a group of people that have been causing trouble around the region." He stood up a little straighter and looked me in the eye, "I'm not talking about some idiots going around bullying people. No, according to my sources, it's much bigger than that. These people are kidnapping or otherwise illegally taking Pokemon, and taking them to an unknown place to do who knows what with them." Stepping a little closer, he began to dig around in the bag he brought, "Now, I know you said you'd never do it, and I really hate to ask, but we're desperate to stop this. So, will you take these, and help me?"

I didn't answer him, I just stood there, looking at the ground, avoiding his outstretched hand which I knew held Pokeballs and a Pokedex. I had been struggling with the idea of being a trainer for four years now, and I couldn't deny that it was tempting, but neither could I forget why it never happened.

I was nine, one year away from being a trainer, and happy. Little did I know that my parents were soon to be taken away from me. Why did they leave? Because they were trainers. They were trainers and they got called away to help with a problem, not unlike the one I was being asked to help with now. That was four years ago, and they never came back. On the morning that was supposed to be the best day of a ten-year old's life, I slept in. I told myself that I would not become a trainer, I would not abandon the people that love me like my parents did.

I'll never really understand why I accepted his offer that night. Maybe it was because, deep down I really wanted to be a trainer, but I liked to tell myself it was my fate.

I couldn't sleep that night, I kept replaying the conversation I had had with the professor, mainly the part where I told him I'd help. I kept weighing the pros and cons of being a trainer. I silently promised the village that I'd come back and visit. I wouldn't be like my parents. By the time I finally fell asleep I had come to terms with my decision and was excited to begin.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning, I was jolted awake by my Pikachu alarm clock blaring in my ear, but I didn't even mind it. I hopped out of my bed, hurriedly fixed the sheets, picked out an outfit I thought would be best for travel, and went to shower.

I emerged from the bathroom with semi-dry hair and the small braid once again present. I had decided to pull my hair back today, and the small braid had been swept up with the rest of my hair. I was wearing rough black pants, a black belt, and a soft brown v-neck tunic.

I returned to my room, gathered all my new items, and packed them into a brown leather satchel I had in my closet. As well as the Pokeballs and Pokedex, I also packed a small bag of whatever money I had, and an extra set of clothes (it's amazing how much I can pack into one small space). I slung the bag over my head and shoulder. Looking through my closet for anything that might have been missed, I found an old pair of traveling boots which I slipped onto my feet before closing the closet door.

After half running half falling down the stairs, I reached the kitchen where I scarfed breakfast and grabbed the spare key out of a drawer. I did a quick walk around the house to double check for forgotten things. Finding nothing, I headed out the door.

Before completely leaving, however, I turned back to face my home. "Goodbye, mom. Goodbye, dad. I'll be back someday." I whispered to the empty house before shutting and locking the door.

Mrs. Green was outside her house again this morning. "Take care of my house for me Mrs. Green!" I yelled, lobbing my spare key at her.

"Alice?!" She called. "Where are you going?!"

I ignored her and sprinted away towards the route leading out of town, my hair flying behind me.

I was unable to receive a starter Pokemon, so I ran along the path avoiding as much grass and as many trainers as I could before I finally had to stop and rest under the shade of a tree. The city ahead of me I knew was a fairly large place called Feldgrau, I had never been there, but I had heard plenty of stories from people who had. I got up to continue on. I still had a long way to go.

I first glimpsed the city sometime in the afternoon. I was resting, happened to look up, and saw buildings towering above the trees! I reached the city right before nightfall, the dying sun gave the tall buildings a pinkish glow.

I walked into the city, my gaze fixed upwards, I had never seen such tall buildings before. When I finally tore my eyes away, I realized that something wasn't quite right. Even at this time of day, there should be more people out, but there were only a few. I wandered farther into the city passing a Pokemon center and several shops. None of them interested me, I looked for the people who were supposed to inhabit them, and after some aimless wandering I found them. I heard them before I saw them. I was walking down one of the streets when I heard shouting up ahead, I ran to go see what it was and I found a mob of people crowding around something I couldn't see. It looked like people were arguing about it but the voices all blurred together and I couldn't separate one from the other.

One woman with pink hair stood apart from the rest of them, shaking her head. When she noticed me, she came over to stand next to me.

"You must be new here. Are you a trainer." She asked.

"Well, yeah, I guess I am," I replied.

"I'm so sorry you had to see this." She motioned to the crowd. "There's a Pokemon around here that's been causing unrest in the people here and it looks like they finally caught it." She shook her head again. "I've tried to talk to them, get them to let it go, but they won't hear me. All I can do is hope they don't hurt it. My name is Joy by the way, I run the Pokemon center."

"I'm Alice," I tell her. I look back to the crowd of people, "And don't worry, I'll find some way to stop them."

"I hope you will, I should be getting back to the Pokemon center now, but I'm sure I'll see you again. It was nice to meet you, Alice, if you ever need anything, you know where to find me."

I nodded, and she walked off towards the Pokemon center. I turned my attention back to the horde of people who had now quieted to listen to someone.

"- all have been worried about the Pokemon threatening the town." He was saying. "But that's over now because _I've caught the beast_." Cheers rose up from the crowd. "Now the question arises about what to do with it." As people shouted out suggestions, I pushed my way to the front of the crowd and gasped.

The people stood in a large circle around a man with broad shoulders and a scarred arms, he had a buzz cut and wore nothing but shorts, a vest, and a belt with six Pokeballs on it. But it wasn't the man my attention was drawn too, it was the cage he leaned so causally upon. For cowering inside the cage was a Pokemon.

It had a wolf-like, black body, covered in white fur. It had a ruff of fur around its neck and chest and a tuft on the top of its head adorned with a single blue-black oval. It had a feline face with almond shaped red eyes, a scythe-like tail, and a crescent-shaped horn on the side of its head. Its broad feet were equipped with three large claws each, and spikes protrude from the heels of its hind legs and the elbows of its front.

I had read about this Pokemon, It was an Absol. My parents were researchers and I had read a book written by them on this Pokemon. Suddenly, I realized why these people thought they were being threatened. The book had told me that this Pokemon can sense natural disasters before they happen and sometimes try to warn people about them. That's what this one must have been trying to do, and this time it got caught. But the disaster could wait, I needed to free this Pokemon.

Before I could speak up, however, the crowd began to move and I was being jostled and pushed along with them. It was only when we arrived at our destination, the gym, that I realized what conclusion the people came up with. They were going to make it fight.

The gym was one big room inside a huge building near the center of town. Benches for spectators rose up around the battlefield, and a fence made sure that nobody fell off the drop from the first bench to the field (even though it wasn't that big). The whole room was brightly lit by electric lights from above.

I was carried by the flow of people to the top bench where I stayed to watch what happened below. The cage was carried to the far side of the field while the captor took up position on the opposite end. It was only when all possible exits were secured that the cage door opened and the Pokemon let out. The Absol crept cautiously out and surveyed the room, and on the other end, the man let out his first Pokemon, a Primape. I gaped. I may not be a full trainer yet, but I know my types and this was putting the Absol at a huge disadvantage. I put a hand to my head, scowling as the fight began, this wasn't fair at all and I couldn't think of a good way to stop it. I had two ideas but neither were very appealing. One, I could release a new Pokemon into battle, but I didn't have any. Two, I could jump into battle myself, but that would be stupid, and could likely get me killed. I let my hand drop, sadness filling me, and I bumped the satchel I had taken with me. My head snapped up, the professor had given me Pokeballs. I didn't have time to think my plan through, the Absol was all but defeated, and the Primeape was getting ready to land the final blow. With a rush of sudden adrenaline, I sprinted past all the benches, yelling and shoving people out of my way, retrieving a Pokeball as I did so. I launched over the fence and chucked the ball in the general direction of the Absol (my aim was never really that great). In midair, logic finally caught up with me and I realized how stupid I was. My plan was never going to work, the man had said that he _caught_ the Absol, and everyone knows it's not possible to catch a Pokemon that's already owned by someone. But thoughts don't take back actions, and I could do nothing but watch helplessly as the Primape's fist descended towards the Absol, and as my ball sailed through the air, clicked open after hitting its shoulder, the Absol disappeared inside, and the ball locked without the slightest struggle. The Primeape's fist connected with the ground with a mighty _thump_ and the whole gym was silent as everyone, including me, processed what just happened.

No one moved as I got up off the ground where I had fallen, walked over to my ball and picked it up. I had been expecting to get hit with rocks or words or _something_ , but nothing came. The Primeape just stared at me, (but just in case I stood a little ways away from it) as I surveyed the still, silent crowd.

"Well if that's all..." I said, taking a step towards the door. The crowd erupted in protest. People shouted at me, told me to release the Pokemon, and cursed me for ruining their "sport", but nobody looked angrier than the trapper.

"I'm going to have to ask you to release that Pokemon _girl._ " He said in a calm voice that did not at all match his red face.

"Actually, I think I'm just gonna..." I tried to sidestep around him, but he blocked me with his body.

He glared and stuck out a hand, "Give the ball."

I contemplated the ball in my hand as If I was considering handing it over, then, smirking, I bashed him in the face with the ball and took off running for the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I made it through the doors of the gym unscathed but I didn't stop running when I got outside. I ran through alleys avoiding the main roads and desperately trying to remember where I'd seen the Pokemon center. I knew it was probably the first place they'd come looking for me, but I didn't know this city well enough to go anywhere else.

I made it to the Pokemon center eventually and startled Nurse Joy as I burst through the doors, gasping for air.

"Oh, my!" Nurse Joy exclaimed. "What happened to you?"

"Stole...Pokemon...They chase...heal please," I managed to choke out, giving her the ball. By some miracle, she understood what I'd done, took the ball, and ushered me into the back of the Pokemon Center where I sunk to the floor. A few seconds later she was back returning my ball.

"There you go, she's all healed."

"She? How do you know?" I asked.

"Oh, there are always little signs that will tell you, and when you've been around Pokemon as long as I have, you learn to identify them."

"Huh," I said, looking curiously at my ball.

"Anyway, back to more serious things," Joy said, helping me stand up again. "There's an empty room in the back you can use for a while. If they come looking for here I'll try to ward them off, but if worst comes to worse, there's a window in the room that shouldn't be too hard to climb out of."

I thanked her profusely and found the room without much difficulty. I'd never been in a hospital room before, my town was so small the closest thing to a hospital was Mrs. Williams's house.

The room was small, sparsely furnished, and dim. I didn't turn in the light for fear that someone might see from outside and get suspicious, but I could see the basic layout of the room. It had white walls decorated with a few pictures with details I couldn't pick out. Part of the room was separated by a wall an contained (I guessed) a bathroom, the floor was carpeted, and on the far side of the room was a bed with a window above it and a small table.

The bed is what I headed for. Once there, I removed my satchel and took off my sweaty shirt. I pressed my hand to the fabric of my tank-top, trying to feel my heartbeat. It was still pounding from my sprint through the streets, so I closed my eyes, and took slow, deep breaths. After a few minutes, I opened my eyes again and looked down at the ball that rested in my lap. I already knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight, so why not get to know my new Pokemon.

When I let her out, she was facing away from me and she seemed a bit lost. She turned in a slow circle, gazing around the room as if in a daze and when she saw me, her eyes got really big.

"Hello," I said quietly, stretching my arm out so she could sniff my hand. "Um, my name is Alice. I guess I'm your trainer now." An awkward silence ensued. I had no idea if she could understand me or not but she hadn't attacked so that was a positive.

She seemed a bit more relaxed now and I let my hand return to the side bed. Then, I laid down on my back, looking at the ceiling and pretending not to notice the not-very-sneaky Absol that was slowly creeping closer to the bed. Eventually, she laid down close enough to the bed that I could reach out and pet her head, which I did. After what I guessed was ten minutes, I felt my eyes start to close. I was exhausted, I didn't try to fight it as I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up once during the night for an unknown reason and just stared at the ceiling for a while. I got to thinking about the day's events and began to ponder what I was going to do with my new Pokemon. I realized then that she didn't yet have a name and proceeded to spend the next twenty minutes brainstorming names. When I finally gave up and looked over at her, I saw that she had moved out a little farther into the room and the moonlight coming in from the window put her in a spotlight. The light reflected so beautifully off her white coat as it rose and fell with her breathing. As I watched her, a name popped into my head.

"Luna," I whispered into the room.

I'd read scenes from my books before where something is being named and it has some sort of reaction when the perfect name is found. Yeah, that didn't happen. I have to say I was a little disappointed by that. But the name just kinda _fit_ , so I kept it and decided to present it in the morning.

When morning came, I was awakened by Joy gently shaking me awake.

"I didn't want to wake you till the last minute," she said, "but I packed your bag for you and the sooner you leave town the better."

I sat up, rubbing my eyes and yawning. "Where's Luna?" I asked seeing she wasn't on the floor where she'd been sleeping.

Nurse Joy looked at me, confused, and I realized I hadn't told anyone yet. She quickly figured out what I meant though. "She's in the room down the hall eating with the other Pokemon," she told me.

After I'd gotten dressed and picked up my bag, I headed over to the room that Joy had pointed me to. While I waited for Luna to finish breakfast, I had a breakfast of my own, and afterward, I introduced her to her new name, which she seemed to like (as far as I could tell anyway). When it came time to leave the Pokecenter, I brought out her ball, which she immediately expressed her distaste for by growling at it. Confused, I turned to Nurse Joy who explained to me that not all Pokemon like being confined to the ball, which I understood.

I knelt down to Luna's level and put my hand on her head. "Look, I understand that you don't like being in the ball," I said to her, "but right now we need to leave unseen and if you're not in the ball we'll be that much easier to spot. I promise I'll let you out as soon as we're out of the city." She looked at me with big eyes and made a low, mournful sound, but didn't fight as I returned her to the ball.

On my way out the door, Joy handed me a map and wished me luck. Outside, the sky was gray and the air was humid. I unfolded the map I'd just been given and headed in the direction of the closest city exit. Again, I tried to stay off the main road, I avoided contact with others if possible, and I stayed as close to the buildings as possible. When the gate was finally visible a good fifteen minutes after I'd left the center, let out a deep sigh of relief. Beyond the walls, a dirt path extended into a deep forest, and as I passed between the white brick walls that signified the end of the city, I kept expecting someone to call out to me, to stop me, but it didn't happen. Not while I was passing through anyway.

I was outside the city now, and I was just starting to feel safe when I heard footsteps behind me. I whirled around to see three large teenage boys behind me. All three of them were dressed similar to the trapper I'd bashed in the face last night, all three of them were angry, and they all looked ready for a fight. The only good news was that they only had one Pokeball each.

"We heard what you did last night," the middle one said, taking a step closer.

"And we've been instructed to bring you back for a reconciliation," the one on the right said, joining the first one.

"Yeah, wanted dead or alive," the last one joined in.

The other two boys turned toward their comrade. "No, Trevor, we've been over this," the right one scolded. "It's alive, we need her alive." Trevor made a face, and the boy in the middle just stood there and shook his head.

I couldn't help but giggle at them, but as the middle boy turned back to me, I realized too late that I could've made a break for it.

"Good to see you're still here," he said, attracting the attention of the other two back to me. "Now, will you come willingly or will we have to fight?"

I held my ground but maneuvered my satchel so it was behind my back.

"I see," he said. "If it's a fight you want, you got it." The three of them took their Pokeballs and released the Pokemon from inside.

A Weedle, Caterpie, and a Paras now stood in front of me. I had to stifle a laugh, they were not the manliest Pokemon after all. Then it dawned on me why they would've chosen these Pokemon. Bug-type Pokemon were strong against Dark-types, and I had no idea how strong these Pokemon were. For all I knew they could be here for the intimidation effect, all bark and no bite, but I wasn't willing to take that chance.

I took a step back, hoping I could still make a run for it. Then I heard a voice coming from above me.

"It's impolite to pick on defenseless girls you know."

I looked up at the same time that someone dropped down out of a tree and landed in front of me.

I couldn't tell a lot about his appearance, except that he wore a lot of brown. His shirt was a light brown, his pants a darker brown, heck, even his hair was a caramel color. I hoped that his eyes at least were a different color.

This boy was a few inches taller than me, so I peered around his just in time to see the middle bully sneer and say, "Impolite huh? Well, sorry to break it to you _kid_ , but were not big on being _polite_ to people. Especially when they've stolen something of ours."

When he said this, the boy in front of me threw a questioning glance my way. I pulled a face and looked away, but not before catching a glimpse of his eyes. Indeed they were not brown, but a beautiful shamrock green that, even for the split second I held eye contact, made me feel calmer.

"She didn't even belong to them in the first place," I mumbled.

The boy turned back to the teenagers across from us who were now shouting rude comments to us.

"Who even are you?" One of them jeered. "You have no business interfering with our job."

"Yeah," the boy the others called Trevor joined in, "what could _you_ possibly do anyway? You look like you just lost a fight with a Hippowdon."

 _True,_ I thought, because he did look a bit dirty and beat up, _but you don't have to say it like that._

"Well," the boy said, not at all phased by the rude taunts of the older boys, "but looks can be deceiving can't they?" Then, without breaking eye contact, he gave a command, "Fury Swipes," he said, his voice hard, "target all of them." At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then I saw a brown blur sweep through the area in front of me, and when it left, the three Pokemon who had been eager for a fight just seconds before, now lay defeated on the grass.

I was surprised both at how prepared this boy had been, and at how incredibly _fast_ his Pokemon was, whatever it was.

It took the teenagers a few seconds to process what had just happened to them. But once it sunk in they quickly recalled their fainted Pokemon, and now, without a means of attack, they fled back into the city.

I watched them go triumphantly, allowing myself a feeling of pride. Then, I turned back, to find the boy standing there facing me with his arms crossed, one eyebrow raised, awaiting answers. I sighed, I didn't like explaining things to people. I walked past him over to the shade of the tree he'd appeared out of and motioned him over. Before I told him anything, however, I took a good moment to study him.

He may have been a little dirty, but he wasn't ugly. His caramel brown hair was longer than what I was used to seeing on boys, it reached down past his ears and it stuck out at odd angles. He had a round face, but a sharp jawline. His skin was pale, and he had a few freckles on the bridge of his nose. Then, of course, there were his eyes, which I felt I could stare into for hours, and If I were to guess his age, I'd say he was one or two years older than me. A couple things I hadn't noticed before however, were that he wore a pair of beat-up red sneakers and a belt with a lone Pokeball on it.

After we were both comfortably settled in the shade, I began my story of how I got into that situation. It didn't take me nearly as long as I thought it would, I left out the part where this was the first time I'd left home, and told him that I only disturbed the trappers not that I stole a Pokemon. When I finished, I expected him to share his story too, but he didn't. He asked a few questions, and then just got up, nodded to me, and started to walk away.

I stood up quickly and called after him, "Hey, aren't you at least going to tell me your name?!"

He stopped but didn't turn around. "Names can be very powerful things, I don't throw mine around so easily."

I stared at his back as he continued walking, debating if I should follow him. I glanced back at the city walls and made my decision. If he wouldn't tell me his name, that was fine, I wouldn't tell him mine either, but as I ran to catch up with him I was glad to have found another friend.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Hey there, sorry this one took a little longer to come out, writing had been slow lately. Also, you may have noticed that I changed the title. This is because I made a slight change to the plot and the original title didn't fit so well anymore. Anyway, I hope you all will continue to read and enjoy!_

Chapter 4

I'd been tailing the boy for a while now, not quite sure how to approach him. I was only a few feet behind him and wasn't sure if he knew I was there yet, so I kept quiet.

The sky was still overcast, but the rain had yet to fall. I looked up into the clouds, silently telling them that if they were gonna hover there, they might as well do something. Then, I stopped, realizing that I should probably take my own advice. It was right then, as the first raindrops began to fall, that the boy turned around to confront me.

"Will you stop following me?" he said accusingly.

"I-I'm not," I stammered, "I just happen to be going the same way." Lies. I had absolutely no idea where I was going. He didn't look convinced, he raised an eyebrow, rolled his eyes, and then started to walk away.

"Coming?" he called, making me jump.

I smiled as I rushed to catch up with him. "So, what kind of Pokemon is it that you have?" I asked once I was walking next to him.

He glanced up into the trees, "Fury? Oh, he's a Meowth. He's kinda wary of new people though, so don't expect to see him for a while."

"Wow, I didn't think a Meowth could move so fast," I said.

"Yeah, we worked on that for ages. If you're fast enough, nobody will be able to retaliate." He got a faraway look in his eyes for a second before coming back to reality. "So, I heard those boys say you stole something? What's that about?"

He said it so casually that it took me a second to understand what he asked, but once I did my jaw dropped and I stopped walking. I'd forgotten to let Luna out.

"You alright?" He asked as I frantically scrambled around in my bag.

I found her ball and immediately let her out, ignoring the looks I was receiving from my new companion. Luna appeared in front of me, glaring.

"Look, I'm really sorry but I got distracted and-" Luna turned her head away from me, and glared at the sky now. Her coat was quickly turning from white to wet. I ran a hand over my own wet silver hair and found the small braid that had fallen out of my ponytail. I tucked it back in and tried to talk to her again. "Listen," I said, setting one knee in the mud to be on her level. "I didn't let you out earlier because I was approached by people who wanted to capture you again, you understand why I couldn't right?" She glanced at me but kept her head pointed away. I sighed and stood up again, the one knee on my black pants now muddy. "I tried," I said to nobody in particular.

Noticing the look I was getting from the boy, I started to explain what had happened in the city and how I came across Luna. We began to walk again as I talked.

It was still raining when I finished but by now all of us were soaked and nobody really cared. Luna had decided to forgive me at least partially because she was walking beside me now.

"So what about you?" I asked, wiping water off my face before it dripped into my eyes. "How did you meet Fury?"

He seemed to ponder this question a while before answering. "Well, my family has a sort of ... fascination with Pokemon and Fury was pretty much born into my family. I bonded with him when I was still young so when I... left home, he was a clear choice for my starter Pokemon."

"Oh, cool," I said. I hadn't really expected to get that much information from him but I wasn't complaining. "So, your parents are breeders then?"

"Not really," he said, looking away and pulling his shoulders close to his body.

I could tell he didn't want to talk more about that so I decided to change the subject. "So do you like to..."I trailed off realizing I had no idea where I was going with this. My gaze fell to my side where Luna was chewing an unknown substance. "...Eat...berries?" I finished awkwardly. I cringed inwardly and kinda shrugged when the boy looked at me with a mix of confusion and amusement.

"Why don't we stop somewhere and look at the map," he suggested.

I quickly agreed and we turned off the muddy path to find a semi-dry place under the trees. We both unfolded our maps and he showed me where we were. While we were engrossed in our maps Luna was shaking herself dry and hunting for more berries.

"Oh, it doesn't look like we're too far from the next town," I observed.

"Yup, If we keep walking, we should reach Malachite town by evening."

"Evening?!" I exclaimed. "But that's such a long time!"

"Have you ever traveled before?" he asked, concerned.

I looked away. "No," I admitted.

"Wow, I can't imagine what it'd be like being stuck in one place for that long."

"Ah, it wasn't so bad, I had lots of great people taking care of me," I said, thinking back to my village and everyone in it. For the first time since I left, I felt a pang of homesickness, but I brushed it off, I couldn't go back now. "I guess we should get going now if it's going to take us that long to get to Malachite. Luna!" I called.  
She poked her head out of the bushes she had gone hunting for berries in and came strolling out of it trailing sticks and a wet Meowth. I raised my eyebrows, surprised.

"Oh, Fury, you decided to show yourself huh?"

"This is him?" I asked.

"Yup," He replied. "You're lucky, he usually doesn't show himself to people this early."

"I'm honored," I said, crouching down and letting the Pokemon sniff my hand.

Fury looked much like a regular Meowth. A cat standing on its hind legs, with a curly tail, whiskers protruding from both side of its face as well as the top of its head, and the large gold gem set into its forehead. The only things different about this one was that it had black paws and a scar that ran from the top of his left shoulder to about the middle of his chest.

After greeting me, Fury ran to his trainer, climbed up to his shoulder, and began to play with his wet brown hair. I wondered if this was the reason it was always so messy.

The rest of the walk consisted of lots of small talk and quite a few battles with weaker Pokemon (I can't say no to a challenge). When at last we neared Malachite, it had stopped raining, and the sun was setting below the horizon. The town walls weren't nearly as tall as the ones surrounding Feldgrau, and these were made of red brick.

As we passed the sign that said 'Welcome to Malachite!', we were greeted by two boys about our age wearing ball caps and tossing their Pokeballs up in the air before catching them again.

When they noticed us they stopped what they were doing and came running over to us. "Hey there!" the first one called. Motioning to his friend he said, "We like to stand out here and test the travelers trying to get into Malachite town, and you two look like you could stand a chance."

"So, wanna battle us?" his friend asked.

"Of course we do," I answered for us.

"Great!" the first kid said. "How about I take on your friend and you take on mine."

"Sounds good to me," I replied, motioning to Luna.

Not two minutes later, Luna and I we facing off with one of the boys who reached up and turned his red cap around so that the bill was behind his head. I smirked as he released a Spearow from his Pokeball. This wouldn't be much harder than what I faced traveling up the path.

From somewhere to my left I heard the other kid speak to my companion. "What do you say, two-on-two?" he asked.

Wait. I thought. The only Pokemon he has is Fury...right? I was confused and couldn't help but glance over at them. Sure enough, I saw my brown clad companion remove the ball I'd assumed was Fury's from his belt. I didn't have time to see what kind of Pokemon it was though because my opponent chose that second to launch his first attack.

"Peck!" he commanded. The Spearow flew forward and my attention snapped back to my own fight.

"Luna dodge!" I shouted. She tried to jump sideways but the bird's sharp beak still grazed her side. "Counterattack with Slash!" Luna reached out and grounded the bird with one stroke of her claws.

The battle wasn't over yet though, the Spearow was still hanging on. It squawked indignantly and wobbled to its feet. It squawked again at Luna who looked at me and tilted her head questioningly. I kinda felt bad for it.

"Do you want to surrender or do you want me to put that Spearow through even more misery?" I asked my opponent who looked crushed, but was staring at his Pokemon as if he was trying to will it back to full health.

Eventually, he sighed and called his Pokemon back into its ball. "You win," he grumbled, walking over and handing me a bag of prize money.

I awkwardly patted him on the back and told him to keep training. Then, I turned my attention back to the other fight and was surprised to see it still going on. The boy in the ball cap only had one Pokemon left, while my companion was still going strong with Fury and a Pokemon I'd never seen before.

It was a small blue thing with black fur covering it's head and neck, concealing everything but its mouth from view. I could see a few purple spots in the fur around its neck that looked like they might be bruises. The fur atop its head took the form of a single small horn, and it had a small tail that appeared to have been bitten off.

I rummaged around in my satchel for my Pokedex. When I flipped it over and pointed it at the Pokemon it told me I was looking at a Deino. I remembered reading about Deinos in one of my parent's books, but that book didn't have any pictures. 'Deinos will ram just about anything,' the book had said, 'this makes sure that they always have at least a few bruises covering their bodies. Also, they will bite anything that moves, I have a scar on my arm as proof of that.'

As I watched the fight, the ball cap boy commanded his Pidgey to attack. Almost before he was finished speaking, my friend gave his own orders.

"Crystal, Bite!" he yelled, and his Deino sprang into motion and had chomped down on the Pidgey before it had left the ground. "Now, Scratch, Fury!" In no time they had defeated the last Pokemon and I was left standing there with my jaw on the ground. I was amazed at how well the two Pokemon worked together. "Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Wha... oh, yeah, I'm fine, I just didn't know you had a second Pokemon," I replied, kind of embarrassed.

"Yeah, I didn't really think It'd be worth mentioning." An awkward silence passed. "So, you don't have any other Pokemon do you?"

"Nah, it's just me and Luna."

"Oh," he said sounding a little surprised.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just thought that you'd have more considering how old you are," he stated, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, you've been at this for how long? And you still have only two?" I shot back, putting my hands on my hips and raising an eyebrow.

"Touche." He smiled.

I was taken aback for a second. This was the first time I'd ever seen him smile before, and looking into his beautiful green eyes, it was hard not to smile back.

We entered the town by ascending the short flight of steps that ran between the two brick walls. This place was a step up from the village I had grown up in, but a definite step down from the large city I'd just come from. The buildings were large but not towering, and they were spread out. Most of the buildings, except the

Pokecenter and Pokemart, were made of stone and had green roofs. The streets were paved with cobblestone and everything would've been very gray except for the fact that there were bright flowers planted in most of the yards. All in all, It had a very...foresty feel to it. I loved it.

The first thing we did was stop by the Pokecenter to have our Pokemon healed. By the time we finished, the sun had almost entirely disappeared and the few streetlamps this town had were coming on.

We found the Inn by asking one of the local residents, it was a large wooden building, one of the few in town with three stories, and the lights from inside emanated a warm glow. We walked in together and rented separate rooms where we all but dropped straight into bed. I would have done just that if my stomach hadn't reminded me that I hadn't eaten all day.

I poked my head into my companion's room. "Hey, I'm going down to see about dinner, you want me to bring you something?" I asked him.

"Sure," he answered from the floor where he was laying with his Pokemon.

When I came back upstairs laden with two trays of stew and food for the Pokemon, I saw that Luna had joined the others. My companion was now laying on his stomach in nothing but his pants and a tan undershirt talking to Luna.

"And then we..." he trailed off as he noticed me approaching. Fury, who had been sitting, quite contently, on top of his head, was almost knocked off by the motion of his head.

"Here you go," I said, handing him a tray and pretending I hadn't heard him talking. I sat down next to Luna and, after feeding the Pokemon, started hungrily on my stew.

Once everyone had finished, I took the empty dishes and, after returning them to the kitchens, said goodnight to everyone before turning in for the night.

I woke late the next day to the mid-morning sunlight streaming in through the window above the bed. Luna was already awake and staring at me. I poked my head into the boy's room only to find it was already empty. My brows knit in confusion.

I know he said only to the next town, but I thought we became friends...didn't we? I thought to myself as I plodded down the stairs to breakfast. I remembered the moment after the battle with the ball cap kids where he'd smiled at me. I smiled at the memory and sat down in the lobby area.

By the time Luna and I had eaten, it was close to noon. On our way out of town, we passed a very large building labeled Gym. Me, having just about zero experience as a trainer had no idea what it might be and continued walking.

Once outside the town I looked at my map and sighed. "If yesterday's experience is anything to go by, it's gonna take us the rest of the day to reach even the mountain," I told Luna who 'awooed' sadly.

My prediction came true and we reached the large mountain by evening. I sighed. The walk here had been kinda lonely. I had Luna of course, and all the other Pokemon around, but it had been nice to have a human companion for a while.

I figured I'd better go inside. I had packed some food and I wasn't going to sleep outside tonight when the clouds were threatening to rain again. So, inside the cave I went, fighting off Zubats and the like. When at last I rounded a corner and sitting there in front of a fire was the boy again. Still wearing his all brown outfit, caramel hair forever messy.

"Oh," I said, louder than I'd initially meant to. My voice echoed throughout the cave and the boy jumped up at the sound.

"Oh, hey," he said casually, sitting back down. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, this happens to be the only way through to the next town." I wanted to ask him why he didn't wait for me this morning, but I was a little bit afraid of the answer so, I just sat down cautiously on the other side of the fire and pulled my dinner out.

"Oh, yeah," he said kind of absently, stroking one of his Pokemon, I couldn't tell which one. As soon as I pulled out my food though, the Pokemon, Crystal, jumped up, ran over to me, and promptly sat down on my lap. "I guess she likes you," he laughed.

"You sure it's not just the food?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

We laughed and chatted a little while I ate, but once I finished Crystal settled down in my lap and we lapsed into an awkward silence.

I was just about ready to turn in for the night, but suddenly Crystal bolted upright. Before her trainer had time to react to her sudden movement, she bolted off into the darkness. I was only stunned for a second before I was up on my feet racing after her.

I could tell Luna was right behind me and I heard a voice behind me yelling "Come Back!" but I didn't know if he was talking to me or Crystal.

I was soon swallowed by the darkness and forced to stop running and just call her name. I felt like an idiot just standing there yelling. Luna's fur brushed my hand and I held onto her. Looking back I hoped Luna could see more than I could because I couldn't see the fire, the boy, or anything really. It was at that moment that I felt a muscled arm wrap around my waist. In the same moment, a hand covered my mouth to prevent me from making noise. Luna was torn away from me, and I was dragged deeper into the mountain.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I don't remember when I lost consciousness or even how. I'd like to think that whoever kidnapped me knocked me over the head or something, but I knew it was more likely that I fainted. Either way, when I came to, I was without my satchel greeted by the sight of cell bars. The bars were the only things I _could_ see, everything else was shrouded in darkness. I squinted my eyes and looked around but I couldn't see anything, it was all blurry. I rubbed my eyes, looked again, and... nope, still nothing but stone walls with a door made of metal bars.

I got up and walked over to the door. Grabbing the bars I tried to poke my head out but the bars were set too close together and all I could do was kinda peer out. I was being held in a cell at the very end of a hallway. A dim lantern suspended from the middle of the hallway ceiling was the only source of light nearby. Across from me was a cell that looked identical to mine but appeared to be empty. I couldn't exactly tell how long the hallway was or how many cells were set into the walls of it, but I got the feeling I was alone.

I moved back to the far wall of my cell. It was long but rather thin. If I stretched my arms out, my fingertips brushed the walls on either side of me. For a long while, I sat there staring at the door; my mind scattered through several different thoughts. Half-formed plans of escape flitted through worries about how long I'd been unconscious, when they'd bring me food, and what they'd done with my bag. Then, a more prominent worry entered my head. A worry about what had happened to Luna, and suddenly I felt more inclined to finish those plans of escape.

I guessed it was about two hours later when I heard a noise at the far end of the hallway, initiating my plan A. I got up and crouched in the shadows near the door, waiting for whoever it was to open my cell (if indeed that is what they were here to do). I waited patiently as footsteps drew closer to my cell. A figure stepped into view. He was tall but thin and dressed in dark clothes. I was confident I could take him out. The key clicked in the lock, the door swung open, and the figure placed a tray of food on the ground. On his way back up though, he paused realizing that there was apparently no one in the cell. That's when I launched myself toward him, aiming a punch at his head. It was my silver hair that gave me away, it had fallen out of its ponytail and glimmered in the dim lighting. He saw me as I moved and caught my fist moments before it made contact. He shoved me backward, I tripped over the tray he'd put down and landed flat on my back. By the time I had my breath back he was long gone, leaving me to pick at whatever scraps of spilled food I could find.

My attempts to flip the tray into the food bringer's face, trip the food bringer, and sneak by the food bringer all failed as well. I was beginning to think Luna and I would have to suffer being trapped here until whoever caught us decided they wanted to release us.

It was nearly a day after I made that conclusion that my salvation came to me in the form of a small, furry Pokemon with a single horn.

Crystal bounced up to my cell about an hour after the food bringer had delivered my food. I had been snoozing a bit but was startled awake by the sound of something metallic clanging against the bars of my door.

"Crystal?" I whispered. "What are you doing?" She banged the key against the bars again, then, spit it out and nudged it under the door. "How'd you get that?" I asked, crawling over to the door and picked it up. In response to my question, Crystal back and cocked her head, waiting for me. "Nevermind, let's just get out of here." I stood up and reached through the bars. I had to grope around a bit to find the lock, but once I did, I turned the key and the door swung open smoothly. "Free at last!" I said, stretching. "Okay Crystal, can you lead me to Luna?"

She stood up and I could have sworn she nodded before running down the hallway. At the end of the hallway, she slipped easily under the door while I had to use the key again to get out. Immediately outside the door, there was a huge cavern that was lit by the same dim lanterns form the hallway, but these were placed on the ground. The cavern was clearly natural, but the hallway we'd just come from had been man-made which I thought was strange. _Why would someone go through all the trouble of creating a hallway just for a few cells?_ I wondered as I wandered into the cavern.

I tried my best to follow Crystal who was running at full speed, dodging rocks and wild Pokemon alike. I had a harder time. I tripped over several rocks and had to keep batting away the wild Zubats.

I was out of breath and more than ready to take a rest when I saw Crystal stop at the entrance to a tunnel, a natural one this time. Relieved, I folded my hands on top of my head as I continued walking, trying to get my breath back. Before my heart had even begun to slow though, a teenager wearing purple and black skidded around the corner and spotted Crystal.

"There you are you little runt," he growled, advancing on her. He hadn't noticed me yet, and, realizing that this guy was a threat, Crystal got ready to attack. I did the same, dropping my hands and preparing to charge him. "I told you I'd find you eventu-" he never got to finish his sentence because that's when I tackled him. It was a full body slam that sent both of us sprawling on the ground.

I recovered quickly, rolling off of the stunned boy and beckoning Crystal to follow me. We continued on into the tunnel which turned sharply to the right and ran headfirst into someone else. I almost attacked this guy too before I realized that he wasn't wearing the same dark clothes as the others. His light brown shirt was torn in several places, his light skin bore a couple of new scratches, and he'd lost one of his red shoes, but even if I'd only known him for a few days, I'd recognize those green eyes anywhere. I couldn't actually tell if his hair was messier than the last time I'd seen it, but his eyes were wide with fear and they went impossibly larger at the sight of me.

"Wh-what?" he stammered as I leaned heavily against the wall taking a moment to regain my breath. "I mean, uh, how'd you get here?"

"It was... Crystal," I panted. "She came to my cell and... gave me the... key." He looked very surprised to hear this, and it was then that I noticed he wore my satchel. It was also the moment when the boy I'd knocked over began to move again.

The three of us didn't hesitate for a moment longer, we took off down the tunnel talking as we ran.

"Why are you... still here?" I asked.

"Well...," he said, looking rather embarrassed, "we couldn't just... leave you."

"Oh," I said, smiling.

"So... you're okay then?"

I looked down at myself as we ran. My clothes were filthy, and I was almost certain that my hair looked like some sort of silver bird nest, but I was unharmed. "I'm dirty and disheveled, but... yeah... I'm okay," I replied.

A few seconds later we emerged into a small empty room and we took a minute to rest. The room was natural and two natural tunnels led out of it, but a few other man-made tunnels had been put in as well.

"So... which way?" I asked.

"Well, I came from that way." He pointed at a man-made tunnel to our left. "But I'm pretty sure Luna will be down there," he said gesturing to a natural tunnel on my right.

"Let's go then."

"Wait, there will be more Elites down there."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"These people," he explained, "they're part of an organization called Team Elite. I can't give you all the details now but they're bad news."

"I noticed."

"Just let me handle them okay?"

We both turned our heads as the sound of footsteps became audible from behind us. I quickly agreed and soon we were running again. It wasn't long before we came to an intersection. Our tunnel continued straight, there was a dark man-made tunnel on our left, and a room that was loud with the sound of running water on our right.

The boy picked up Crystal and thrust her into my arms. "So, you'll hide in that dark tunnel while I draw out the Elites. Once they're gone, get in there and save your Pokemon got it?" I nodded and we both got ready to move.

He turned to face the room but I caught his wrist before he moved. "Hey," I said looking at the ground. "Be careful and, uh, good luck." I raised my head to catch his eye and found him smiling.

"I'll see you later," he said. He shot me a wink and disappeared into the room.

I found a good place to settle down in the shadows of the tunnel and clutched Crystal to my chest as I waited for him to draw out the Elites. From my position, I could see only a small portion of the room. I could tell that the room was lit by another ceiling lantern, but couldn't see the source of the water.

The muffled sound of voices came from the room, but I couldn't hear clearly over the sound of rushing water. The voices faded out and seconds later the boy came tearing out of the room followed closely by at least six people all wearing a uniform of black pants, and a black jacket over a purple shirt with a white letter 'E' emblazoned on it.

As soon as they were gone, I rolled out of the tunnel and hurried into the room. I was surprised to find that this room only had three walls. The wall to my left was made entirely of water, which definitely explained the sound. But, to my horror, the other three walls were lined with cages of all sizes. Some held Pokemon and some didn't, and some were even stacked on top of each other.

Putting Crystal down, I scanned the room and quickly found Luna locked up in a cage in the far corner. She was laying down with her eyes closed, but as soon as she saw me, she stood up and eagerly awaited escape. After she'd been let out she pounced on me and made happy noises as she licked my face. I laughed and rubbed her for a minute before I stood up again. As I surveyed the room again, I was surprised to see Fury in a cage not far from Luna's. I did a double take at first, but his scar was unmistakable. I let him out and then made for the door, but I stopped. I couldn't let all these other Pokemon suffer in this dark cave. I made my decision quickly and began working on the other cages. Fury, Luna, and Crystal all noticed what I was doing and did their best to help as well.

We were on our fifth cage when someone burst into the room. It was the boy again. "Hey, what are you still doing here!" he exclaimed. "You were supposed to get out!."

"What? But I couldn't just let them all rot here," I protested, gesturing to all the Pokemon now running about the room.

A desperate look came over the boy's face and he glanced behind him. "I came back here only because I needed to rescue Fury but it looks like you did that for me," he said watching Fury working on getting another cage open.

He took a step forward as if he was going to help, but then voices sounded from outside. He grabbed my arm and led me away from the cages, he scooped up Crystal as he went. We pressed ourselves against the wall next to the door so that if they went by they wouldn't see us.

He poked his head out into the hallway for a second before returning. "Okay, they passed us but they'll be back so we need to move fast," he told me.

"What! No way, there too many of them they'll see us and we'll be caught for sure," I said.

"Well, unless you want to end up in a cell again there's no other way."

"Wait," I said, my eyes wandering to the waterfall, "what if we jumped?"

"Wha- the waterfall?! Are you crazy? What if there are rocks at the bottom, that would be suicide!"

Conflicted, he peered into the hallway again. More voices echoed out of the tunnels, they seemed to be coming from all around now. He closed his eyes and sighed. "You're right." He adjusted his grip on Crystal as Fury came and perched on his head. "Okay," he began, but before he could finish a voice from outside shouted,

"There they are!"

The boy's expression changed from determination to fear. "Listen to me," he said, speaking quickly. "Take Crystal and Fury and get out of here," He shoved Crystal into my arms again and started to disentangle Fury from his hair. "If you go now they won't have seen you and you can get away." He put Fury on my shoulder, but he immediately jumped back onto his trainer who gave up and let him stay.

Behind him, I could see the Elites grouping outside, and apparently, the Pokemon who hadn't left already saw them as well. As soon as the Elites tried to come inside, the Pokemon began to attack them.

I turned away towards the waterfall as chaos erupted around me, but a light hand on my shoulder made me look back.

"One last thing before you go," the boy shouted at me over the noise. "My name," he hesitated for a second, "It's Eren."

I looked into his wide, green eyes and, despite the dire situation, a broad smile spread across my face. "And I'm Alice," I shouted back at him.

He smiled. "See you later then, Alice?"

"See you later, Eren." I saluted to him with my free hand. Then, with my heart in my throat, I jumped over the edge, dragging Luna with me.

It was in midair that I realized I'd forgotten to ask for my satchel back.

 _A/N: So, considering that this story takes place in a world inside my mind, I thought it might be helpful for you guys to have a map of the place. I uploaded a picture of a (badly drawn) map to my account, the link below should take you there (you will have to type it into your browser). Caution: it's sideways (apologies). If you have questions or there's a problem getting to the image just PM me I'll reply as soon as I can._

 _www._

 _fanfiction (.net)/_

imanager _/image_manager_single (.php)_

 _?imageid=5407886._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Holding Crystal with one arm and clutching Luna's fur with the other, we fell fast, hit hard, and sunk. The water was nearly pitch black and freezing cold. In order to swim I had to let go of Luna, and even then it was a struggle to find the surface. The current was a lot stronger than I'd expected and by the time we'd surfaced, the waterfall was nowhere in sight. Not that we could see anything in the first place, the tunnel the river ran through was completely black.

For the first few minutes, I struggled against the current trying to control our speed while also holding on to both the Pokemon. The cold water soon drained my strength, however, and I just floated, focusing more on staying afloat.

We rode the current in this manner for several minutes, all the while crashing into rocks and getting scraped by the bottom of the river. At some point, Crystal climbed onto my chest which made it that much harder for me to stay afloat.

Hope finally rose within my chest as the area around us gradually became visible, but it was quickly shot down when I realized that as the outside light grew nearer, so too did the roaring of a second waterfall. Having neither the strength nor the energy to fight the current, I clutched the Pokemon close to me and braced for impact. As we tumbled over the edge, a protruding rock collided with my calf, slicing through my leggings and cutting into my flesh. I cried out as we fell and got a mouthful of water when we hit.

The sun was only just beginning to rise as we floated to the surface once again, and the first thing I did, once I had my breath back, was to make sure Luna and Crystal were alright. Luna looked no happier than I was about our situation as she paddled along beside us. Crystal seemed to be okay although I could only really see her silhouette perched on my stomach.

This far down the river the current wasn't nearly as strong as it had been, but it was still strong enough to render my muscles useless once I had finally struggled to the bank. Wet, cold, and completely drained, I crawled on all fours away from the river. Luna followed in a similar manner behind me with Crystal on her back. My eyes had closed long before my fingers touched the soft grass that I had deemed 'safe enough' and I was asleep before my head hit the ground.

I woke up much later in a bed and for the first few seconds, I honestly believed that I was back home and had dreamed the whole thing. Upon second inspection, however, it was obvious that this wasn't my room. It was smaller for one thing, and the door was on the wall across from the bed I was lying in. It also had much less stuff in it.

As I was looking around, the door opened and in walked a small girl In a red dress. In her hands she held a bowl of water which she struggled to carry as a rather fat Pidgey fluttered around her head, obscuring her vision.

"Stop it, Pudge, you're going to make me drop this," she squeaked indignantly. When she saw me watching her, however, she stopped abruptly, spilling some water over the side of the bowl, and quickly retraced her steps.

I let her go, my body ached and my eyes longed to close again. Alas, before I could drift off, the small girl returned; this time, with two other people.

The first of the three to enter was a tall woman with long silky black hair that flowed just past her shoulders. She wore simple clothes and a kind motherly expression adorned her soft face. Seeing that I was indeed awake, she walked to the bedside and knelt down beside it as she waited for the other two to follow.

The second was a girl only slightly older than me who was almost a spitting image of the woman before her. However, this girl had a more angular face that radiated her excitement. She stood behind the woman I assumed was her mother and watched me curiously as I struggled to sit up in the bed.

The small girl from before, still holding the bowl of water, started the conversation. "See mama, I told you she was," she said proudly.

"Yes, Brooke, yes you did. Thank you for telling me, now, can I see that bowl please?" her mother asked. Beaming, Brooke held out the bowl to her mother who took it and tested the temperature with a finger.

Now sitting up, I could see that I no longer wore my original clothes. Instead, I had been wrapped in a soft, white robe (although I still needed a bath). The woman beside me stretched her hand out to my face and I flinched back at first, but then I realized she was just reaching for a towel I hadn't previously noticed on my head.

She chuckled softly as she dipped it in the bowl of water, then she began to speak again. "Don't feel like you have to sit up for us, I know you must be hurting still so please lie down." I gratefully did as told, for, my body hurt worse than I had initially thought. "I know you must have many questions for us, just as we have many questions for you, but our questions can wait." The young girl behind her looked a bit disheartened when she heard this but that didn't stop her mother. "Whatever questions you may have, ask away and we'll leave you in peace."

"Are my Pokemon here too?" I asked in a dry voice.

The woman smiled. "How did I know you were going to ask that. Yes, they're here. They were a little scraped up, but they're doing good now."

I relaxed. "Good."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, um, where are my clothes?"

"Oh, well, your clothes were so torn and dirty that I thought it'd be better if I simply threw them out rather than try and patch them," she said, looking away sheepishly, "I hope you don't mind. I'll buy you new clothes to make up for that."

"It's okay, they were old anyway. Sorry to be asking so many questions but where exactly am I?"

"Don't worry, it's perfectly normal to be asking questions, just wait till Jocelyn here begins asking questions, you'll never get her to stop," she laughed, jerking a thumb at her daughter behind her who look slightly offended. "As for where you are, this is the small village of Falune, I'm afraid not many people know we're even here," she gave a halfhearted chuckle and was lost to thought for a moment before coming back into focus. "We may be small but we're self-sustaining. Jocelyn can show you around tomorrow if you'd like."

"Yeah I think I'd like that," I said smiling at both of them.

"Well, If we're going to make that happen then you need rest, so, everyone out." The woman picked up her bowl and shooed her children towards the door. Jocelyn hung back, looking very much like she wanted to stay and ask her questions. "Jocelyn, you'll have plenty of time tomorrow, come on," Her mother scolded without even turning around. Reluctantly, she filed out after her family.

Minutes later, however, she was back, her curiosity overcoming her mother's words. I watched as she eased the door shut behind her and crept over to me, sitting in the same place and her mother had.

"Sorry," she began, in a soft voice, "I'm just really curious, where did you come from?" Without giving me a chance to answer she continued, "because, I found you washed up on the bank of the river and at first I thought you weren't breathing but I figured that was because I couldn't see you very well. See, you were like, totally surrounded by a bunch of Shinx. I thought they were yours but nobody has _that_ many Shinx."

"Um, I really appreciate you helping me out and all and I love to answer your questions but I'm really tired and-"

"Oh, of course," she cut me off. "Really sorry, I didn't mean to keep you awake. I'll go now. Nice meeting you." She was out the door before I could even say 'nice to meet you too'.

I was still exhausted after my little float down the river, and with my aching body, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep again.

 _A/N: sorry that this chapter wasn't quite as exciting as some of the previous ones but I've been taking a bit too much time off and wanted to get this one done quickly. Hope you still enjoyed it and, as always, thanks for reading!_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As soon as the sunlight hit my face the next morning I knew I was feeling much better. I was even feeling well enough to get out of bed and explore the hose I'd been brought to.

Wandering down the stairs at the other end of the hall, I found Jocelyn in the kitchen pestering her mother about new clothes.

"We talked about this, you don't _need_ a new outfit," her mother assured her while she cut up pieces of fruit.

"But, mom," Jocelyn argued, "they just got a new shipment in and I saw something over there yesterday that looked really-"

"Jocelyn!" Her mother interrupted, putting down her cutting knife to face her daughter. "This isn't up for debate, I'm not buying you anything new right now."

I loitered on the last step as they argued, debating whether I should return upstairs when I was noticed by Jocelyn's mother who brightened and politely called me over.

"So sorry you had to hear all that," she began with a smile, shooing Jocelyn away. "I almost have breakfast ready, I assume you're hungry yes?" I nodded vigorously. "Good," she laughed. "I'm Kate, by the way, I know I forgot to introduce myself yesterday. Well, until we're ready to eat you are free to go wherever you want, your Pokemon are out in the yard." I thanked her for her kindness and then, re-tying the robe about myself, I found my way outside.

Walking out of the house I found that I immediately loved their backyard. It wasn't extensively large or anything, in fact, it was quite simple, they had a beautiful flower garden growing on the right side of the yard while the rest of it consisted of soft green grass. The whole yard was surrounded by a white picket fence and behind the fence stood the tall trees of the neighboring forest, silently guarding the perimeter. A gate leading into the forest had been set into the far side of the fence and I even fancied I could hear the distant river from the doorstep.

Over in the left side of the yard is where I found my Pokemon. They were accompanied by Two little children. I recognized Brooke, the youngest girl from yesterday, but the blond-haired boy beside her must have been a neighbor. The boy turned around as I approached, greeted me with a wave and then turned back around as if strangers walk out of his friend's house in nothing but robe all the time.

Brooke and Luna were laying on the grass across from each other having what looked to be a staring competition. Crystal sat atop Luna's head attempting to reach the Absol's blue horn that arched above her. I let out a relieved sigh that neither of them appeared to be sporting any new injuries. As soon as Crystal noticed me, she vaulted off Luna's head and bounded over to me, scaring Brooke in the process. I laughed as I sat down with the small Deino and, having won the competition, Luna quickly joined us.

The next few minutes were split between affection and introductions until Kate poked her head out the back door to call us to breakfast. After which, Jocelyn and I went out to go find me some new clothes.

I felt odd walking through the small town in a robe. I had my Pokemon with me which gave me a small bit of comfort, but the people we passed kept shooting me strange looks.

Disregarding the people, studied the town as we followed our guide. Being an extremely small town it was hardly larger than one or two streets and was closely bordered by the forest. The houses were made of red brick and the streets were unpaved, the whole place felt rather quaint almost homey.

We walked along in silence, which was perfectly fine by me. I was content just to gaze up at the treetops and feel the ground under my feet. We weren't walking for nearly as long as I would've liked when Jocelyn stopped in front of a long, flat-topped building that had been painted all sorts of different colors.

"Here we are," she said cheerfully. "The best apparel shop in town, not to mention the only one."

Jocelyn ushered us inside where we were greeted by a cheerful blonde woman who seemed to take no notice of my strange outfit as she showed us around. We were there for the better part of an hour and by the time we left I had picked up a pair of black jeggings, a plain gray shirt with long sleeves, a pair of boots, and a pair of fingerless gloves. Jocelyn had also forced upon me a black jacket, a belt, and a new bag.

After we had finished shopping for apparel, Jocelyn proceeded to drag us all over town to shop at other stores. By the time we had finished for the day it was well past lunchtime and I was absolutely loaded with all the items I'd ever need. I enjoyed what was left of the day by hanging out at the house in a robe.

I woke early the next morning to wash and don my new clothes and I felt great. My back to longer ached and I was ready to head out. I woke Luna and Crystal and we ate with Kate and Jocelyn before saying our goodbyes.

As I began to walk away, Jocelyn fell into step beside me. "Are you headed to Loden to battle the Gym?" she asked.

I looked over and cocked my head, "Gym?"

"You don't know about the Gyms?!" Her jaw dropped and she stopped in her tracks.

"Um, no?"

"Wow, I thought every trainer knew about them," Jocelyn marveled. "Well, I'll be happy to tell you about them If you want." Knowing she'd probably begin rambling anyway I gave her permission and kept walking. "So there are eight major towns, right? And each town holds a gym; trainers can battle at those gyms for a gym badge," she explained. "Once a trainer has collected all eight badges they are qualified to compete in the Pokemon league." Jocelyn went on to elaborate about the league but I tuned her out.

We had reached the edge of the town by the time she had finished explaining.

"Well, It was nice to meet you, Jocelyn," I said, holding out my hand for her to shake.

"You too Alice," she laughed, ignoring my hand and wrapping her arms around me. "I hope I'll see you again." She stepped back, "Maybe I'll even see you in the league someday," she gasped.

I shook my head and smiled, "Maybe."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Closing my eyes I breathed deeply, inhaling the fresh air of the forest. It hadn't been long since we left the small town but I already felt myself relaxing. I found that even though I'd only been traveling for a few days the road felt like more of a home to me than any town. I could tell the Pokemon felt the same way.

The small town had almost faded into the horizon behind me when I was stopped for the second time that morning. This time, however, it wasn't a chatty teenager but a Pokemon; it barreled into the back of my leg and I almost tripped in my surprise. I turned around to see a small feline Pokemon bristling as it stared up at me. I recognized this Pokemon as a Shinx by its half blue half black body and its spiky yellow tail.

I sent Luna out with every intention of capturing the small feline, and the fact that the Shinx was an electric type meant that neither side had an advantage over the other.

The fight lasted longer than I had been expecting it to, but inevitably, the Shinx's energy had been drained until all it took was a well-aimed Pokeball and It was mine.

After the ball had stopped shaking I eagerly picked it up before retiring to a nearby tree where I immediately let it out again. I healed both the Shinx and Luna with one of my new items, and then I began to play with my new Pokemon.

He was a feisty little thing, and quite energetic, he seemed to get along well with both Crystal and Luna. Watching them all play together made me happy, and I couldn't bear to break up their bonding time so I sat under a tree for a good half an hour before they all tired out. I spent that time brainstorming good names for an electric type Pokemon and by the time I brought the Shinx back to his Pokeball, I had thought of the perfect name: Shock.

A few hours later I was healing Shock with a potion after his latest victory when we were approached by an excited young boy.

"Oh boy, another trainer!" The boy exclaimed, bouncing up to us. "I just came from Loden City and the traveling has been _so_ boring, will you fight me?"

I was amused at how excited he was so, I accepted the boy's challenge. Since he was already out, I decided to use my newest Pokemon to start the fight. The kid started off strong with a Bulbasaur and I winced a bit. Shock put up a great fight, but, inevitably, was defeated. Up next was Luna, and to my dismay, the kid ordered a takedown which knocked out his Bulbasaur but also took an alarming amount of health out of Luna. Nevertheless, I was still confident that I could beat his two remaining Pokemon. As soon as he let out his Mankey, however, I knew I was wrong and that it was just downhill from here. The fight was well fought but, as good as Luna was she just couldn't gain the upper hand over her type disadvantage.

By the end of the fight, Luna and I were both tired and ready to admit defeat, when the kid spoke up. "You do know you can switch out your Pokemon right?" he called.

"But I don't have any more Pokemon," I called back.

"Yes you do," he laughed, pointing at my feet.

I looked down to see Crystal sitting there, leaning forward intently towards the direction of the fight.

"Oh, she's not, well...," I trailed off. In truth, I had no Idea what to say about Crystal. She wasn't my Pokemon, she belonged to Eren, even though I was the one who was taking care of her at the moment. I'd never heard or read anything about fighting with someone else's Pokemon but, If Crystal was alright with it I was willing to try.

I knelt down to her and asked, "Crystal, I know I'm not your trainer but, would you be willing to help out me and Luna here?" In response, she turned towards me, sniffed my face in a friendly way, and stepped out beside Luna. "I'll take that as a yes then. Luna, you did great, come back now." I stood back up and refocused on the fight. "Okay, Crystal, let's finish it off with a tackle."

It took a bit more than a single tackle to finish the Mankey since we were still at a disadvantage, but Crystal performed admirably and was still in good shape by the end of the fight.

The kid seemed very disappointed by the outcome of this and I soon knew why. His third and final Pokemon was an abnormally small Spearow, and a sickly one at that. It gave a sad little cough and dropped some feathers on its way out onto the field. Needless to say, one attack was more than enough to send the poor thing back to its ball.

The kid stood there for a second as if he couldn't believe he had lost. I was about to say something when, to my dismay, he passed out right in front of me. I wasn't entirely sure what to do now; I wanted to make sure he was going to be all right, but at the same time I needed to get to Loden as soon as possible. In the end, I dragged him to the side of the path, tucked a few revives into his bag, and then continued on my way.

 _A/N: I'm so sorry this came out so long after the last one, but chapter 9 is en route so hang in there. Thank you, everyone, for taking a chance on my story, you're all amazing!_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Its chapter 9 two days after chapter 8 (wow)! I took a bit of a risk with something new in this chapter so please tell me what you think._

Chapter 9

The crisp morning breeze tossed my hair around playfully as I stepped outside. The sky had been overcast yesterday when I had arrived in Loden City, but It seemed to have cleared for the moment. I had originally intended to head out after we had all rested a bit, however, after finding that the road had been closed due to muddy roads I decided we could afford to stay awhile.

I didn't feel quite as at home in this city, with its tall building and paved streets, but there was something about strolling down a busy street that made me feel safe. I could tell Luna was a bit on edge though, so we walked down the street with my hand resting on her head and it appeared to calm her down as we wandered.

The people of Loden were very friendly as I soon found out when I was approached by a few different trainers, all looking to battle. After breezing through another fight with the third trainer that morning I realized just how far I'd come with my team and wondered about what Jocelyn had said about this 'gym'.

After a few more minutes of wandering, I came to a conclusion and began asking around for directions to the gym. People gave me more than a few quizzical looks, but I eventually found the gym, tucked away in the southern corner of town. It was early afternoon when I got there, but I wasn't the first to arrive.

Standing in front of the large building, staring up at the imposing glass structure was a girl about my age. She wore a creamy white shirt, plain brown pants, and an old leather satchel that looked much like my old one. She had wavy red hair that fell to her shoulder blades and her pale skin was only slightly darker than mine.

I approached the girl and stood next to her to gaze up at the building. She didn't appear to notice me until I spoke.

"Think It'll be very hard?" I asked.

I must've startled her because she jumped a bit and turned toward me, her ginger hair bouncing into her face as she did. I was about to make some silly remark about how she'd jumped when I spoke, but as soon as I saw her face I forgot everything I'd been about to say.

She had a slightly round face but a rather pointed chin and her nose and cheeks were dotted with hundreds of small brown freckles. Beneath her thin eyebrows were a pair of light brown eyes that caught the sunlight so beautifully I could've sworn they were made from amber. Her nose was small and her thin lips were parted in a surprised 'O' shape.

I felt like an idiot, standing there with a blank look on my face, but she didn't seem to notice my reaction.

"Oh, uh, well I wouldn't know really." she said, looking away, "This will be my first gym battle."

"Oh," I was genuinely surprised, she didn't look any younger than me. "Wow, me too actually," I said after an awkward pause. I lost my words again as we made eye contact but then, to my relief, she noticed Luna and I was let off the hook.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, crouching before Luna, "It's an Absol! I've never actually seen a real one before!" She reached out as if to touch her but stopped and looked up at me. "Ah, I'm sorry, may I?"

"Well, If Luna allows you to I can't see a reason why you shouldn't."

She turned back to Luna. "You have a very pretty name Luna," she said sweetly, rubbing the Absol's furry head. Luna purred and stepped closer to her.

Unable to turn down a bit of attention, Crystal appeared from behind Luna and began to nudge the girl's leg. She laughed and rested her other hand on Crystal's head. "I don't recognize you, but you're very cute," she said in a cheerful voice.

I watched with some amount of jealousy as my Pokemon reveled in her attention until I finally suggested that we go inside.

Inside it was surprisingly warm, so much so that I had to shrug off my new black jacket and tie it around my waist. The building acted as some kind of greenhouse and the interior was filled with all manner if plants. There were large trees that cast shade down onto the path, small bushes that grew all sorts of bright berries, and more flowers than I'd ever seen in one place before. It was almost like walking through a jungle.

The girl and I walked side by side down the dirt pathway. I let her carry Crystal while I focused all my attention on keeping Luna away from the berries.

"Are you nervous?" I tore my gaze away from Luna and found the girl watching me almost shyly.

"Well, I suppose I am a bit," I said, "I'm not really sure what to expect."

"Yeah, me neither," she sighed.

My eyes traveled upwards as we passed a tree that looked suspiciously familiar, but I decided to ignore it and continue walking.

"You know, I never got your name," I said, trying to act casual.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself didn't I?" She sounded somehow guilty as if forgetting introductions was an awful thing to do. "My name is Raylian, and I'm from Smalt Town."

"Ah, Raylian, it fits you," I said smiling at her. "My name is Alice."

"Alice...," she repeated, nodding as if she agreed. "I've always liked that name you know." Before I could respond to her comment, however, she looked up, pointed to a tree and said, "We've passed that same tree at least twice now I'm sure of it."

"Are you saying we're going in circles?" I joined her in gazing at the tree in question.

"I'm saying It's possible."

"No way," I argued, "we haven't passed any alternative paths, so this has to go somewhere, right?" I turned back towards her.

"I'm not so sure, what If this is meant to be a test?" She looked down at Crystal who had apparently fallen asleep in her arms.

"Well, If this is a test then what do you suggest we do?"

"If this path only goes in circles, then clearly, we were meant to leave the path to find the gym leader." She looked at me, head slightly tilted as if looking for affirmation.

I sighed, "Alright, but If we get lost it's your fault."

She looked upset for a second and I worried that I had offended her, but she soon realized it was a joke and smiled before heading off the path.

I crouched down next to Luna, rubbed her head, and whispered, "Stay close to me." Before following Raylian.


End file.
